Time Warner Cable May Drop Fox on January 1

Traditionally, the new year is a time for people to make important changes in their lives, as many resolve to quit smoking, quit drinking or quit eating too much. This January 1st it appears that Time Warner may have a resolution of its own: to quit airing Fox.

According to Variety, negotiations between Time Warner Cable continue to deteriorate. As we reported previously, the two sides are deadlocked over, you guessed it, money: Fox believes that as the most popular network in television and home to top programming such as the NFL and 'American Idol,' they deserve to be getting a little more coin from the cable provider in order to offset lower advertising revenue. Time Warner, on the other hand, appears to be claiming some sort of moral high ground, telling viewers who may lose access to their favorite shows that their decision is a stand against rising costs that would have to be passed along to subscribers.
Traditionally, the new year is a time for people to make important changes in their lives, as many resolve to quit smoking, quit drinking or quit eating too much. This January 1st it appears that Time Warner may have a resolution of its own: to quit airing Fox.

According to Variety, negotiations between Time Warner Cable continue to deteriorate. As we reported previously, the two sides are deadlocked over, you guessed it, money: Fox believes that as the most popular network in television and home to top programming such as the NFL and 'American Idol,' they deserve to be getting a little more coin from the cable provider in order to offset lower advertising revenue. Time Warner, on the other hand, appears to be claiming some sort of moral high ground, telling viewers who may lose access to their favorite shows that its decision is a stand against rising costs that would have to be passed along to subscribers.

Regardless of which spin you choose to believe, however, the bottom line is that come 2010, some 14 million viewers could suddenly find themselves without access to Fox, a possibility that is becoming increasingly likely. "Unless there's some substantial change in Time Warner's negotiating posture," a Fox representative told Variety, "we're not optimistic that an agreement is going to be reached before Dec. 31."

This wouldn't be the first time that Time Warner had dropped a major network; earlier this decade, the provider reached a similar stalemate with Disney over rights to broadcast ABC, which led to a prolonged blackout of programming before a deal was finally reached. Time Warner is hoping that this time around, things will be a bit different.

"We've been saying for quite some time we hope they don't pull the programming while we continue to negotiate," a spokesman for the company said.

At stake in the deal are also a number of related ventures; besides Fox itself, cable stations such as FX, Speed, Fuel TV and nearly a dozen local sports affiliates are included in the programming package, meaning viewers looking for an alternative during the blackout may also be hampered in that effort.

This is one resolution we hope they break.